Khabib Nurmagomedov claims Conor McGregor's poor performance at UFC 229 added to his post-fight outburst and brawl
Khabib Nurmagomedov has revealed he was frustrated by Conor McGregor's meek performance during their clash in 2018.
McGregor returned to the octagon after almost two years in hopes of reclaiming the lightweight crown at UFC 229. Even though it became the most lucrative event in MMA history, the Irishman was soundly beaten by Nurmagomedov in the main event. A brawl between the two camps erupted after the fight, resulting in fines and suspensions for several of the participants.
During a recent appearance on the Full Send podcast, Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he put in a lot of effort to prepare for his fight against Conor McGregor, only to discover little resistance from his rival. 'The Eagle' revealed some of this frustration played a part in setting off the post-fight brawl.
"First of all, I was preparing for war. I come inside the cage, I fight with this guy, and he tapped. I'm like, 'Why I come here? Why I train so hard for this? You're going to tap easily like this?' I just take his chin, you know, and he tapped. This one make me upset too, you know, because I accept more than what I find inside the cage... I remember someone from his corner said something and it was crazy emotional," said Nurmagomedov.
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Chael Sonnen is not interested in seeing Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 4
Conor McGregor suffered a broken tibia and fibula during his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021. The former two-division champion's leg is now on the mend and there is optimism that the UFC's biggest draw could return to the octagon this summer.
However, Chael Sonnen doesn't want to see a fourth clash between McGregor and Poirier. The former middleweight title challenger feels there's no point in setting up another bout between the two rivals since 'The Notorious' megastar performed poorly in their last two fights.
"Poirier versus Conor works, I understand that but part four is a little weird particularly when two and three didn't have a single round won by Conor. It was very uncompetitive and Conor being out and Conor being hurt and Conor's got to give us a little more info too. He's putting pictures out, he's 190 pounds, is he planning on stopping by 170? Is he planning on going back to 55 and it kind of just depends on the day that you talk to him," said Sonnen.
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